I have no idea if WhatsApp made sense financially, but you should be using enterprise values, not market caps because market caps do not consider the debt neede

I have no idea if WhatsApp made sense financially, but you should be using enterprise values, not market caps because market caps do not consider the debt needed to run those companies. (EV) Enterprise Value = Debt + Market Cap in Equity For example, the first company on the list, Activision has an EV of about $22 bn. Nearly double its market cap. Alcoa is $19bn... Your point is still really valid, I was just pointing out the difference.